drunken cynic

So an ExR Beauty and the Beast AU, right? Enjolras is the beautiful revolutionary who comes into the life of the beastly Grantaire and shows him light.

But…

Grantaire as the beauty and Enjolras as the beast.

Enjolras as a grotesque monster who longs more than anything to change the world. To see the day when all men are free. But he’s bound to his home. His curse imprisons him to his cold castle where he can’t start revolution, he can’t change the world. And he can’t find someone to stop his loneliness.

And then in walks Grantaire.

Grantaire, ugly, cynical, drunken Grantaire, stumbles into his castle and all Enjolras can think is “there is no way he can be the one. He’s not beautiful, he’s not kind. He’s not a woman.” But Grantaire begins to prove him wrong. Somehow he can see the light in this beast. He is willing to spend hours in the library reading dozens of books and to play in the snow and to listen to him go on and on about injustice. He believes in him. Then the cynic begins to become something…more. Enjolras knows that he’s not handsome, but when he smiles, when he looks into his eyes, something happens. He doesn’t want to tempt fate, he doesn’t want to be betrayed by hope, but he starts to wonder, is this what it feels like to love? Is this what will break the spell? Grantaire drinks and spends his days wandering around empty halls and letting his heart speed up when he thinks about the man who shares this life with him. He sees the grace of Apollo buried under the ugliness of Hephaestus.

Enjolras is going to die. He is wasting away and Grantaire lies beside him on the castle cobblestone as Enjolras takes his hand.

When Grantaire utters those words “I love you” and a golden-haired beauty stands before him, he sees no difference.

He probably does enjoy drinks more than the next person, but he’s not usually this bad. The thing is that he’s not even addicted to getting drunk at this point, it’s more or less that he just has to if Enjolras is involved. Any Les Amis event, meeting, or gathering has ruined him.

The first time it was because he needed a little liquid courage to talk to the gorgeous man, but enough to get him drunk still didn’t give him quite enough gusto to even try to talk to Enjolras civilly. So he keeps drinking in the hopes that it’ll happen. At some point.

It doesn’t help that while the drinks don’t make for good conversation, they definitely make him more able to speak his mind. Which means that any doubt that his pessimistic ass has is thrown in to combat whatever mission they’re on.

It gets to the point where that’s all Enjolras knows him for. The drunken cynical asshole who wastes his life away.

He can’t even imagine giving it up at this point, because being known for that is better than not being known at all.

ExR Week Day 6: Died Holding Hands

Ah. One of my favorite moments in literature. We all know what it is. I was going to do some art for this, but I didn’t have enough time, so I decided to write an in-depth analysis of the meaning behind Enjolras and Grantaire’s deaths. And so, and analysis:

I think people sometimes underestimate how powerful holding someone’s hand can be. It’s not just a way of staying near someone in a crowd. Your hands are pretty personal. Think about it. You’ve done so much with your hands throughout life. To me, holding someone’s hand is trusting someone with all that you’ve done, and by extension, you. I think that when Enjolras takes Grantaire’s hand he finally realizes that he can open himself up to this person who loves him so much. Even though Enjolras seems pretty resentful towards Grantaire through most of the story, there are moments when he expresses care towards him, but those expressions always seem to come with a lot of denial. Because Enjolras resents Grantaire’s drunkenness and his cynicism he tries to deny how he really reels. I see this moment as the moment Enjolras comes to terms with his love for Grantaire, and embraces it fully.

Grantaire has a similar epiphany. He wakes up from a bad hangover to find the love of his life cornered by the national guard. He’s hung over, his life is in danger, and his idol is about to die. If I were Grantaire I would have started bawling and maybe pleading for my life. But no. He proclaims his dedication to the revolution, something that he has seemed completely indifferent about until now. But he has a complete a-ha moment. To Grantaire, Enjolras is an embodiment of the revolution. He believes in Enjolras and all that Enjolras stands for: freedom. I think that he realizes that he truly does believe in the cause because he believes in the man who fully personifies the spirit of the cause.

Besides announcing his belief in the revolution, I think the most important moment for Grantaire is asking Enjolras’ permission. Let’s be honest, Grantaire is the type who does whatever he wants whenever he wants. Under normal circumstances he would just take Enjolras’ hand and be done with it. But asking Enjolras if he permits it (cries) is his ultimate way of respecting Enjolras and the cause that is so dear to his heart. Grantaire asks him if he can have the privilege of dying with him. He is asking to die beside the man he loves in the name of the cause that they have devoted their lives to.

Then…

Enjolras smiles at Grantaire. Takes his hand. They trust their lives to each other, but more importantly, they accept each other and are ready to brave the next world together.

But even if you don’t see it as a romantic moment, then its still a beautiful platonic moment. Grantaire has realized where his loyalites lie and Enjolras is accepting Grantaire openly and without shame. He is embracing all his cynicism and skepticism to die beside a person who has always stood beside him. Through a very simple and yet powerful gesture, so much emotion can be interpreted. Of course, there is no single correct interpretation. This is just mine. But I hope you enjoy it. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making the first-ever ExR Week so successful.

((Aphrodisiac)) "You have no idea how much I want to." Grantaire whispered licking his lips as he held Enjolras at arms length. "Really no idea. But I can't take advantage of you like that. It's not right."

Enjolras’ eyes were blown wide, and he whined, a completely undignified sound that he would never be caught making when he was fully in control. The blond reached for Grantaire, trying to pull him in. “Why not?” He asked.